Small Affections
by narutsuna7
Summary: Sasuke, the hottest guy in the entire campus of Fire Academy - one of the most prestigious schools in the country. A rich and spoiled playboy, model, a rising soccer star and as uncaring, cool and icy as he is famous - can someone as perfect as him be flawed? By a girl no less? Sasufemnaru. No Yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

**~~~Small Affections~~~**

* * *

 **Summary : AU : Sasuke, the hottest guy in the entire campus of Fire Academy - one of the most prestigious schools in the country. A rich and spoiled playboy, model, a rising soccer star and as uncaring, cool and icy as he is famous - can someone as perfect as him be flawed?**

 **Naru, a simple girl who appears at this school's doorstep with a hidden past no one knows of. How much of a change can her involvement bring in Sasuke's life?**

* * *

 **Let's see…**

* * *

"Ms. Namikaze Naru, was it?" the principal of the Fire Academy, the most prestigious school in all of Japan asked. Her eyes peered over the red frame of her glasses, as the principal of this private educational establishment for the last thirty or so years, he had grown more and more rigid to uphold the school's old traditions and maintain it's legacy of producing high upstanding young individuals to one day assume important positions in their respective fields of interest. In other words, to prevent all his children from tearing the school apart with their mischievous quirks before they graduated.

He carefully shifted in his seat, the leather beneath him creaked loudly, "I'm Sarutobi Hiruzen." he introduced himself. "I'm extremely pleased to have you as a new addition to our prestigious school. I've gone through your tests just now, and I must say they are quite amazing." he complimented the girl, she smiled. "You've been given full scholarship here, that quite a gruesome task to accomplish in and of itself and for that, I congratulate you." his eyes squinted in thought, he rummaged through the documents sprawled over his desk. "But you say that your middle school documents were mailed to us, yes?" she nodded wordlessly, after a second more of searching he shook his head and flipped the papers close. "I'm sorry but we haven't received anything yet, perhaps a mishap in the mail. You must have the originals with you, yes?"

The girl shook her head, downtrodden, "No. Those were the originals."

Hiruzen frowned deeply. Naru kept her eyes cast down, the girl's shiny golden tresses were cut short and messily, almost ragged at ends. Her clothes were baggy and over sized, engulfing her small frame completely to almost give her a male look. She looked clearly shy and nervous, chewing on her lip every two seconds. The girl had obviously been through hard times, she was labeled as an orphan from what he'd read in the forms. He could even go so far as to summarize she had no idea how admissions in this facility were carried out, walking in her home clothes with a small banged up bag slung by her waist and her letter of acceptance in hand.

The elderly man sighed, he sympathized with the girl. He'd seen way too many spoiled, rich brats and it was nice to see someone coming here for actual 'learning'.

The girl tensed up as seconds clicked away, the silence ate away at her soul. "Does this mean I can't be admitted?" she whispered softly.

Lord, she sounded devastated. Hiruzen was determined to help her out, nodding briskly, "I believe I can overlook this as long as you keep focused on being a good, hard working, model student of Fire Academy."

Her head shot up, she bowed and eagerly thanked the headmaster. Hiruzen had to take a moment to breathe before he replied, her wide baby blue eyes had momentarily stunned his senses. Her porcelain skin looked as soft as it did beautiful, but the thing that had caught his keen eyes were those strange birthmarks on her cheeks. He hadn't ever, in his sixty years of life, seen such weird markings. They almost looked like whiskers if he were to be honest. If not for the way she was dressed and her hair so unkempt, he had to admit the girl looked almost adorable. "Come with me then, I'll show you around the school."

* * *

Namikaze Naru breathed in a silent prayer, the ordeal was finally over. The school had accepted her, her only problem now was to make sure no one found out her secret - she was determined to keep it that way.

She smiled to herself, looking at the elderly man walking ahead of her, she felt a tad bit guilty for lying to him. Hiruzen seemed like a nice, friendly man, but it was necessary, after all her future depended on this step.

Naru shook her head and breathed in deeply, she'd finally run away from all her problems and as luck would have it, her desperate last minute application to Fire Academy had been accepted. Thankfully, she had managed to intercept the mail before anyone else had taken a look at it, that would have defeated the whole purpose of keeping this a secret.

With this, she could finally assume the identity of the last person anyone would look for; a teenage boyish looking girl in the famous high school for the rich and spoiled.

Yes, everything would finally change. Her hands tightened on the strap of her bag, knuckles whitening - it was high time her life took a turn for the better.

* * *

Naru changed her mind, her bad luck was still standing tall and strong.

After getting her schedule, supplies and almanac for the year from Hiruzen, she found her classroom. Standing before the unremarkable oak door, she quickly smoothed down her unkempt short hair. She had cropped them off awkwardly with a pair of shears, time and money had played a huge factor in that particular decision. Not like long hair were important anyways, short ones were real easy to manage in the long run.

Then she quickly looked down and pressed down her clothes, straightening out the kinks in her overly large sweater to make sure it was a little loose and at least looked presentable enough. She really, really hoped her classmates were nice and easy to get around, especially a bit less attentive to details.

Heaving another deep breath, she turned to grip the doorknob. It was unlocked. With a hesitant smile she stepped in, and stopped short.

A tall boy her age looked up, startled. His black hair were slightly damp from sweat and his onyx eyes pierced into hers. Her gaze though moved down to the 'other' person sitting on his lap, since his own chest was bare she felt her cheeks burning. The girl with bright pink hair sitting atop his lap was in the same position, they were evidently in the middle of something. She thanked the gods above that he still had on his pants, "S-Sorry." she whispered and slammed the door close.

She leaned on the door and covered her face embarrassingly with her hands, _"I'm so damn stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid_ _!_ _Why didn't I knock?_ _! Why-_ WAHHH!" she fell backwards when the door abruptly opened. Stumbling, she crashed against something solidly damp and warm, her ears picked on a soft grunt. Her classmate caught her in his arms and steadied her up, only for her to look at his extremely irritated onyx eyes.

Her mouth fell open, she spun around and apologized profusely - again.

* * *

Sasuke rose an eyebrow as he leaned against the door frame, absolutely unconscious of the fact that he was still half naked. The tiny boy in front of him continued whispering his apologies, his lips quirked in utter amusement before he plastered on a cool, bored look. Finally he drawled, "This is my first time seeing you, and seeing how you barreled in here, I assume you're the…new kid?"

The tiny boy nodded, wringing his hands together and eyes downcast. Sasuke frowned as he studied his new classmate, _"This one's a complete wreck, should be easy enough to be pushed around. If my estimates are correct, he'll be running out within the week. And here I was, already looking forward for something amusing."_

It was rather well known around the campus halls that the student body was divided into two halves, one that Sasuke involved himself with, the other whom he couldn't care enough for. Between his group, it was their hobby to mess with new admissions as much as they possibly could. However, seeing his wreck of a boy, Sasuke placed him in the later group.

He nodded briskly and brushed past him, slinging his uniform's jacket over his shoulder, "I would tell you to make yourself comfortable…but then again, there isn't any need for that. You won't be around for long."

Naru, bewildered, stared at the closed door in front of her as the tall, albeit handsome boy's shadow became obsolete from it's foot line. _"What was that about? So much for getting a nice classmate…"_ she blew a wisp of her hair from her eyes to the side, sighing in defeat and turned around only to blink. The room was quite neat, she noted, but the girl in front of her - now clothed - looked anything but amused. _"Then again, what do I have to compare her to?"_ she wondered absentmindedly.

Pressing her lips together, she straddled over to the other side of the room and began to tuck away her possessions in an empty desk.

* * *

Sasuke strode across the lawn, tucking his hands into his pockets. Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught a slight movement and quickly craned his head back to let the soccer ball fly harmlessly past his face. He turned to see his classmate, Kiba, grinning stupidly at him, "Damn. And here I was, hoping to give you a minor concussion."

"The day you hit me with a ball, is the day I quit playing soccer." Sasuke retorted with a roll of his eyes.

"So?"

Sasuke knew immediately what his classmate was asking about, he shrugged, "He's a goner. Too tiny and wimpy to stay here for long. Blonde hair, blue eyes, an inch away from a nervous breakdown."

Kiba frowned, "Is he annoying?"

"Nah…" Sasuke mused, apart from interrupting his morning routine the boy looked decent enough. "I think he might actually be a decent guy. Too bad he's so edgy and quiet, he came in while I was with Sakura-" he promptly ignored the glint in Kiba's eyes. "and fled the room with his face as red as a volcano." Sasuke smirked, amused. They continued on their way across meticulously well kept field, the smell of freshly mowed grass pungent in the air. Some students looked their way from their own warm ups before going back on it, idly wondering why those two looked so unusually thoughtful.

Kiba laughed, entirely oblivious to the looks he was receiving from the warming up boys, "Maybe he's gay. Took one look at your swooning hot body and swooned. Be careful, after fan girls you may have a fan boy on your hands."

"Very funny…" Sasuke commented, annoyed. "I really don't think he's such a bad guy. Tell everyone not be so harsh on him, just minor pranks or so nothing over the top. I feel bad for him already, not like that Hyuga kid who came here last month." even Kiba wrinkled up his nose in disgust. "Lord, is he annoying. Wouldn't stop yapping about destiny or something all the time. How he got on the soccer team's starting line up is still beyond me."

"Maybe he likes you too." Kiba suggested.

"You're this close to making me snap."

"I'm out!"

* * *

Naru looked up, startled. A hand had slammed itself on her table, she had no idea what to expect next, "Who the hell do you think you are?! _"_

She realized it was the pink haired girl from earlier, her head tilted aside in honest confusion, _"People sure do have strange ways of asking for an introduction here…"_ she mused inwardly.

"I'm Naru, it's nice to meet you! _"_ she mumbled, trying to be as polite as she could. She leaned back when the girl in front of her intimidatingly leaned forth, "Did I ask for your name?"

Naru shook her head, deciding to stay silent, "Is this your seat? I'll move if you-"

Her shoulders were pushed down forcefully when she tried to get up, seeing no other reason why her classmate might have been offended with her, "It's not about the stupid seat. How dare you come in and disturb my morning routine with Sasuke?"

Her lips curled in distaste, Naru breathed deeply to stay calm while warily eyeing the hand holding her collar, "I didn't know someone was in the classroom so early, I'm sorry for not knocking."

The grip on her collar loosened, Naru sighed tiredly. It hadn't even been a single lecture and she already felt drained, "Be careful next time. I don't like someone disturbing me when I'm with Sasuke."

Nodding, Naru watched the girl leave with an added sway to her hips. She idly wondered if this was her normal walk or she was doing it on purpose. Though, she caught a subtle waving motion out of the corner of her eyes.

Standing by the huge window to the halls, Sakura smiled sweetly. Naru's eyes widened seeing a wallet she knew all too well being waved back and fro in her hands. She rummaged through her bag furiously and much to her horror did she realize, that was her wallet.

Sakura snapped her fingers twice, successfully gaining her attention, "Next time, you'll be extra careful."

And just like that, Naru helplessly watched her walled being flung outside the window as if it were trash. She ran to the window and watched her walled fall into the fountain, "Why would you do that?"

Her question lay unanswered, Sakura was already turning the corner to another classroom. Her feet hopped into a sprint, Naru zipped through the stairs with the agility of a cat, _"Bitch."_ she muttered.

* * *

Gaara squinted his eyes against the sun, hand running through his crimson hair as he released a tired sigh. Kankuro chatted away beside him while he tried to tune him out, quickening his steps Kankuro followed him like a lost puppy. For some reason, he was overly eager to follow him around, making it his hobby to keep his 'idol cousin' flattered. Half the time, Gaara just wanted to knock him senseless.

The way you told Sasuke off the other day was awesome, did you see the look on his face?" Kankuro chortled, reminding Gaara of bleating horses, "Priceless!"

With another sigh, Gaara turned the corner, though staggered back when someone crashed into him. A golden haired boy looked up at him, bewildered, and Gaara was momentarily struck by those startling azure eyes. Panic struck the other boy's face, as he started whispering in a voice so low, he may as well just stayed quiet, "I-I'm sorry, so sorry."

Kankuro shoved the boy in the chest when the latter tried to get up and made an odd squeaking sound. Naru's hands fleeted up to cover her upper body, fingers settling on her collarbones, "Watch where you're going, you dork! Gaara, you alright?"

Gaara rolled his eyes and turned back to the fallen boy - only to blink when he found nothing but thin air in his wake. Twisting around, he stared in astonishment at the back of the fleeting boy. " _Boy he runs fast!_ "

"You know who that kid was?"

Kankuro frowned and shook his head. "Nah. Must be new."

Gaara nodded absentmindedly as he stared at the sprinting kid. The boy had his head ducked low and he was running so fast that his arms were behind him, he resembled a fleeting chicken. _"What a weird way for a guy to run. if I wasn't sure of it myself, I'd say he runs like a girl."_

* * *

Naru wanted to whimper in defeat and hide herself from the world, just an hour and she'd already crashed into two guys - one had been half naked!

Was this Karma or something?

A horde of guys passed by her, laughing and shoving each other joyfully. She ducked her head low and took extra precaution not to crash into anyone else, masking her presence so thin, she almost got blended into the the wall.

Finally reaching the fountain, she groaned seeing how big it was. It was half the size of a pool, for crying out loud!

Rolling up the sleeves of her sweater and pants, she trudged in the water and took baby steps so as to not fall from the slippery base of it. Didn't they clean this? She idly wondered.

Bending down, she started searching for her wallet, "I never thought there would be bullies in this sort of an high class school. But I guess they're like insects, cropping up everywhere - enough of that, I'd better find my wallet or I won't even be able to pay my rent this month!" she whispered.

"Hey!" she looked back, startled, "You really do have some nerve skipping out on classes, on first day no less!" she rolled her eyes.

"At least I'm not fondling with someone half naked in broad daylight…" she retorted back. It was already bad enough she was dripping wet now, she didn't need someone else to add salts to her wounds.

"Fair enough." she narrowed her eyes on the smirking boy. He was so shameless, she wondered. Not even an ounce of regret was present on his face, had she been in his position she would have been running around ducking her face.

"But why are you in there in the first place?" she had already started rummaging through the water again, "I need to find my wallet."

Her reply garnered an amused raise of an eyebrow, "And why is it there in there?"

She was about to mouth her answer off, but she pursed her lips. "I-It's no big deal. I've got it, I just dropped it out of the window by mistake." she lied. By the looks of what she had seen earlier, that girl was probably his girlfriend or something - she absolutely did not need an annoyed couple behind her back.

Her ears twitched hearing some splashes. Twisting around, she saw Sasuke walking in with his own sleeves rolled up, "Hey, you don't need to do that!"

He ignored her outburst, "Relax, getting a bit wet has never hurt someone in a thousand or so years. Besides, girls are always telling me I'm dripping with good looks, won't you agree?" he asked slyly, running his wet hands through his hair.

She turned pink, "S-Shut up!" her mutter made him chuckle, she childishly puffed out her cheeks.

After a few seconds, both went quiet and concentrated on their little treasure hunt. "Hey!" she glanced back, expecting another snark comment. Though her eyes widened seeing his hand, "Is this what you're looking for?"

She ran up like a child, trying to catch it while he reached his arm up higher and higher each passing attempt, "Just give it back already, you jerk!"

"Hey I never said I was going to return it for free." his reply made her glare at him. Though instead of making him a tad bit intimidated, much to her ire, he looked amused, "Alright, what do you want?" she relented.

Shoulders sagged, she awaited his reply. He stared up in the sky for a moment, pondering, "I don't know, we'll call it a favor for later. How's that sound?"

She nodded, eyeing him suspiciously, "I'm not giving you any money." he nodded. "No funny business either." he gave her an odd look, as if she were crazy. "Well?" she drawled sternly.

He nodded awkwardly, chucking it back at her. She caught it with a stumble, completely soaking herself in the process. "We should get changed."

His mutter startled her, she bobbed her head aside in confusion, "I don't have any spare clothes with me."

He breathed out a sigh, "Bring your bag and meet me in the gym's changing locker then, I have my club uniforms in there. I'll lend you one."

She brightened up considerably, "Really?" she asked, he was already walking out of the fountain by then.

She waved at him, bouncing out of the water chirpily, "Thank you!"

* * *

Naru had her head ducked low as she consulted her soaked map, it's instructions had gotten bleak from the water. She had no idea what it said, and where the hell was history class supposed to be now?

"Lost?"

She looked up to see a brown haired boy smiling at her. He was dressed in the school uniform, a white blazer with blue pants, the top two buttons of his shirt underneath lay unfastened. She nodded, a bit embarrassed, "Do you happen to know where Ms. Kurenai's class is?"

He grinned, baring his feral looking canines at her and jabbed his thumb to the right. She smiled gratefully and started to run off in that direction, stumbling a bit as she shouted her thanks back at him.

* * *

Kiba stepped into Asuma's class and plopped down into the seat next to Sasuke, "Met him."

Sasuke coolly raised an eyebrow, "And?"

Sasuke leaned back, putting his feet on the table he chuckled, "Wonder how long it'll take him to finally retrieve his bag and go to the gym."

"I don't think at least until this lecture is done for. He seemed pretty naive you know."

Another boy with a half eaten bag of chips, sitting across the isle leaned forward and frowned, "You two are running him around so soon?"

Kiba rolled his eyes, "You just want to see if he's cute or has any food on him or not, don't you Choji?"

A broad grin slipped on his plump cheeks, "Well it doesn't hurt to see if he's my type of a guy or not, you know." Choji's sexual preferences were known throughout the campus, he would date almost anyone - be it male or female - if the person had enough interest in food, even better if he/she was willing to cook for him.

They stopped talking when Neji and his group walked in. Sasuke frowned and tipped his head aside, scowling at the boy while the latter ignored him completely and walked to the other side of the room.

Mr. Asuma walked in shortly after and closed the door behind him. A tall man with dark brown hair a full faced beard to match, he resembled a well trained gorilla as much as he did a human. He had on him a thick folder, which mate everyone display their hostile expressions even more. He was easily the school's most hated and strict teacher. He cleared his throat loudly and barked, "Class sit down now so I can start-"

The door suddenly banged open, and Naru came stumbling in, gasping for air. Mr. Asuma's face darkened into a scowl. Drawing up to his full height, he snapped, "I take it you're Namikaze Naru?"

Naru could say anything, she wheezed and nodded.

"Seeing as you're new here, I guess that makes it my duty to inform you that all teachers of Fire Academy, me included, do not take tardiness so lightly." Asuma warned her, "And when you are late, we expect an apology and a pretty good reason for your mistake." folding his arms quietly, he waited patiently.

Naru gasped out, "I-I'm sorry Asuma-sensei - I - was - wallet - - - - water - - clothes - - bag - - - - gym - - - - empty - - - I-I'm sorry."

Asuma frowned, clearly unimpressed, "Perhaps you'll like talking without actually stuttering, I don't believe in students when they're spouting off gibberish."

Naru turned pink, "I-" she stopped abruptly when her eyes caught onto something peculiar, the boy that had helped her sat in a chair near the back window, sleeves rolled to his elbows and now sporting a completely dry uniform. She almost wished she was able to breathe fire from her nostrils.

Then her eyes moved to the boy sitting by his side, and seeing those brown hair her eyes went wide in recognition. The brown haired boy had the gall to wink at her, and grin insolently at that.

"May you please redirect your attention back to me. I'm sure Mr. Kiba is a rather friendly fellow but please keep your acquaintances outside this class."

Naru reddened even more, she bowed apologetically. Someone whispered, "…queer." The entire class broke into snickers, her eyes fell short on the pink haired girl from the morning, the same one who was responsible for all this mess in the first place and she sneered at her!

Her icy emerald eyes stared lazily into her azure ones, while rested her cheek in the palm of her hand. Purposefully putting a leg over the other as a show of intimidation, it had the desired effect on the blonde girl.

She stiffened and lowered her head to the ground, and even though she wanted to burrow a hole in the ground and bury herself in it from humiliation, she stood proud and straight. _"Jerks, the lot of them."_ She mumbled out another apology, wondering just how many this one made for this day alone, "Forgive me Asuma-sensei, I got lost on the campus. It won't happen again, I promise."

He nodded vehemently, his eyes still filled with displeasure,"You may take a seat now." he said.

Naru looked around the room and decided to take a seat in the empty front row of the class, one in the middle that seemed to break the entire class into two equal parts; one was her earlier saviors side and the other for some other white eyed kid and the red haired one she had crashed into earlier today. She sat down, and instantly felt everyone's stares burning into her back. Face still rosy from humiliation, her nose and clothes icy cold from being soaked for so long, she plucked out a notebook from her back and tried to hide herself in it.

* * *

"The Renaissance period means rebirth of culture, that isn't to say the medieval…" Asuma droned on while everyone tuned him out. Sasuke too tuned him out and kept his eyes peeled at the new student's back. A lazy smirk quirked his lips, he was a bit surprised that the new kid hadn't immediately pointed fingers and tattled on Kiba. Not that it would do anything except earn him even more derision from the rest of the class, and most likely, from Asuma as well. But newcomers generally tried to seek help from the authorities first thing in the morning, Sasuke wondered if it was because this new kid had spunk or if he was actually so big a coward, that he was too scared to tattle on them.

Choji peered over his table, "That new guy is cute, I think Gaara likes him."

Sasuke merely rolled his eyes, "You're impossible, Akimichi."

"What, are you blind or something? Look at his face man, the flush on it is adorable." Kiba muttered, a hint of lust in his eyes.

"Shut up. Both of you." Sasuke declared. For some reason or the other, Kiba saying that new guy was cute didn't quite settle right with him. It wasn't like it was anything new though, but Kiba generally tended to be attracted to anything that had two legs. But still…

"Oi! You okay, man?" Kiba asked.

Sasuke knitted his eyebrows together, "Yeah, why?"

"It's just that you suddenly turned a bit broody."

"I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Just stuff," Sasuke snapped, exasperated, "Will you take a hint and stop questioning?"

"Jeez…" Kiba coughed, "…periods."

There was a moment of silence, a moment too short in Sasuke's opinion.

"Man I think I'm in love. Look! The new guy is playing with his hair, aw such a cutie. Yes, you may introduce me to him after class. You have your lord's permission."

"Kiba?"

"Yes?"

"I think I'm going to introduce you to my fist."

"Nah. I'm not very interested."

"How about my studs then?"

* * *

 **Please do review if you wish to read more**!

 **This is strictly Sasuke X Naru, no other pairings will be involved.**


	2. Chapter 2

**~~~Small Affections~~~**

* * *

Gaara twirled his pen around his fingers, a frown flickered his face. Something about that new kid was bothering him, and for the life of him he couldn't shake it off. Something just didn't feel…right. He stared hard at the blonde haired boy, trying to discern what exactly was drawing his attention to him.

Oddly, Sasuke too was staring hard at the new kid.

" _Is he thinking what I am thinking?"_ he shrugged, it didn't matter. _"Whatever. If Uchiha is planning on recruiting him too…then I'll do it first_ _!_ _If not, then that blonde boy will just be a huge eye sore for us both."_

The bell rang and Naru instantly shot off her seat. She grabbed her bag and all her books, nearly sprinting out the door. Gaara calmly walked after her and just as she was about to hurl herself around a corner, he closed in on her and grabbed her backpack from behind. She nearly toppled backward before she found out she was anchored to her spot. She turned around wearily and raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Yes?" she pondered out loud.

"I'm Gaara." he smirked easily.

She gnawed away at her bottom lip and clutched her books even tighter. "I'm Naru."

There was a moment of silence between them. Naru fiddled uncomfortably before nodding slightly and turned to leave. Gaara caught her bag again and she was reeled back again by his side. She stared up at him quizzically, "Yes?"

"Hi again." he remarked.

She blinked. "Hi."

"You're one of us now."

Apprehension fell over her face, she started shifting uneasily. "What? Of course I'm one of you now." she giggled awkwardly, "A normal teenage kid studying here like, uh, a normal teenage kid… I also like sports, and, uh, cars! Yup, I love cars! You know how it is, a normal kid, uh, liking normal stuff."

Amused, Gaara smiled indulgently. "Yes, I can see that. What I meant was…"

"Back off, freak!" a growl rifted the air, interrupting them.

Naru was suddenly plucked into the air like a sack of potatoes. Twisting her head, she looked at her raven haired classmate's features, pulled taut in a fierce scowl. He didn't even address her, merely casting his eyes down at her in a cursory overview before focusing his attention back on Gaara. Releasing his hold on her collar, Sasuke sat her down next to him and took a protective step forward in front of her. Her face burned in utter embarrassment, she must have seemed like a mangy cat being dragged off by the scruff of her neck in front of everyone, "Um, ano-"

Gaara's teal green eyes turned cold, "I believe it's the kid's choice who he chooses to make acquaintance with, Uchiha."

Sasuke folded his arms, his broad shoulders covering the little girl behind him like a wall, "You're too late, he's a part of my gang now. So naturally, he belongs with us."

Naru's eyes darted between the two nervously, she had an uncanny feeling of watching two wolves fighting over their territory.

The kid who had shoved her down in the morning popped up all of a sudden and took his place beside Gaara, sneering at Sasuke. "Oh jerk off, Uchiha. It's none of your damn business!"

Sasuke stood unfazed, quiet as a rock. The boy who had sent off running outside the campus popped up next to Sasuke with a mocking grin, "Oh yeah, I'm sure you're really familiar with jerking off, aren't you Kankuro?"

An arm slung around her shoulders, and she turned her face up, bewildered beyond belief, to stare into the goggle covered eyes of another boy with a shady looking sweatshirt covering the entire lower part of his face with it's collar, "Why don't we go someplace else and let those two sort this little feud out?"

All Naru could do was nod dumbly and let him lead her away.

* * *

Sai grinned to himself as he lead the new kid into a shaded area underneath the trees just outside the cafeteria doors, bypassing the benches. Several picnic tables lined up the area and there was another small fountain here featuring a cherub that sprouted water in all it's directions.

"Um…shouldn't we be, you know, in class?" she mumbled, fumbling with the helm of her sleeves. They were way too long on her, just as she preferred them to be, but she constantly had to roll them up to keep it manageable.

"It's break time now." Sai reminded her, dropping down on the grass with his legs crossed. "Oh right, um, where's that boy who was with us just now?"

Sai blinked. "Oh, you must mean Shino. Don't worry about him, he has an odd habit of disappearing from the world."

Naru pouted, "Lucky, wish I had that too…" her soft mumble was nearly lost to Sai when the breeze picked up for a moment.

Sai slid closer to her and smiled widely, "So, how do you like school so far?"

Naru shrugged, "It's okay."

"The campus?"

"It's okay."

"The people here?"

"Um, they're okay."

"Me?"

"Uh…you're okay too."

A sudden laugh from behind startled her, "Do you have any other opinion besides it's okay?" Sasuke asked, annoyed. A chuckling Kiba took a seat by her side.

Naru frowned at Kiba and shrugged, leaning forward to hug her legs. "I really don't understand what you guys were fighting about."

"Fight?" all three boy blinked, as if the idea itself was foreign to them. "Oh, that wasn't a fight. You'll know it when it's a fight, that was just daily bantering." Kiba chortled joyfully, patting her back so hard that it made it her cough wheezily.

"Oh, then it's okay." she mumbled. Everyone chuckled, even Sasuke joined in after hearing her omnipresent opinion coming out yet again. She puffed up her cheeks childishly, a vain attempt to hide their redness from the three.

"So, which one do you prefer?" Sai asked.

"Hmm?"

"Sasuke or Gaara?" he clarified.

There was a moment of silence. "Who's Sasuke?"

Said Uchiha stared at her blankly, the other two mirroring his stare in astonishment. "You don't even know my name?"

"Well… we weren't introduced properly, you know?" she retorted defensively.

"I'm Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke." he curtly introduced himself.

She smiled softly, "I'm Naru. Namikaze Naru."

Kiba grinned, "So which side are you on now? I'm with Sasuke because that Kankuro kid with Gaara really bugs me to no ends. Shino is on our side too."

"Shino?" she said blankly.

"The shady looking one who took you out of there."

"Oh." her eyes spaced out for a second while she quietened down. "Then I'm not on anyone's side."

"Huh?" even Sasuke stared at her in surprise.

"Both Sasuke and Gaara haven't exactly been welcoming to me and I don't think I want to hang out with anyone who looks down on me." she glanced away, idly plucking away at the grass.

"Therefore I'll go solo." her voice quieted to a low whisper. "It's not like I haven't been alone before, you know."

"What's that?" Sasuke asked her, thinking he hadn't quite heard that last part right.

"Nothing."

Sasuke gave her one last doubtful look before shrugging. "Okay if that's what you want." seeing her shiver from the breeze and Kiba's suggestive glance, he knew exactly what to say next. "Then at least let me fulfill my promise from before and get you changed into something dry, lest you want catch something."

Her eyes flashed liquid red for a moment, remembering his earlier prank quite vividly. But she stayed quiet in the end and nodded. She was so cold, "Okay."

All three dusted themselves off and made their way to the gym. "You can go solo if that's what you want. Still you can always come to me, I'll be more than happy to show you around." Sai winked devilishly at her and she blinked. She suddenly noticed that he had somehow moved very, very close to her.

"That's… nice and all, but who are you?" she stupidly blurted out.

He blinked himself and turned thoughtful, "That's right, we haven't had a proper introduction either." he suddenly smiled lopsidedly at her and leaned in closer, draping an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, I'm Sai. I'm eighteen years old and I'm a single white male. I like long walks on the beach, sunsets and candy. But most importantly, I like you, you're cute."

Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously at his friend, damn near close to wringing his neck like a twig. He had no idea what it was, but he felt really angry for some odd reason. Naru's stomach turned seeing Sai's brilliant smile, but she tried to calm herself down. Panic started overwhelming her as her heart raced, she nonchalantly tried to wipe her sweaty palms on her pants. She plastered on a smile, "Um, you do know I'm a guy right? A GUY? Right? Right?"

Much to her ire, he chuckled. "I heard you the first time cutie pie. I'm also A GUY, though how normal, I wouldn't know." he smiled flirtatiously. "I'd suggest you spend some more time together with me to figure that out, how does that sound?"

Naru nearly bit through her lip, her hand fumbled in the rugged bag slung by her side and grabbed the familiar object in it tightly, just in case something went haywire. _"What's wrong with this guy? Is he hitting on me? But - but I thought my disguise was damn near perfect! He couldn't possibly know I'm a girl, right? Or could he? Is he playing around with me? Does he know - and - oh my god!_ "

"Sai, back off." Sasuke muttered icily. Only then did Sai stare at the pallid looking girl in concern. "Hey, hey, you okay? The prospect of spending some time with me isn't that scary, is it?" he asked playfully, trying to calm her down.

"W-What-What do you want?" Naru whispered, clutching her bag as if it were her life. Sai frowned, the boy looked petrified and ready to bolt out of the campus any passing second.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, I was just teasing you." he apologized, smiling ruefully. "If you must know, I'm bisexual. Armed with my awesome pickup lines, my goal is to win the hearts of everyone around me! Asides from Sasuke, Kiba, Gaara, Shino, Kankuro - ahem - and you know. But yeah, apart from my closest friends, I'm pretty damn irresistible, right?"

Relief washed over Naru's face and she laughed nervously. "Oh. You're bisexual! That's great!" she giggled in a chipper tone.

Sai, much to Sasuke's hidden annoyance, immediately reverted back to his suggestive grin. "Oh. How so?"

She coughed awkwardly and covered her mouth, simultaneously edging away from him as subtly as she possibly could. "I mean, that's really cool how you're so open and - and - yeah. Isn't class about to start real soon?"

She made a show of looking at her wrist, except she had no watch on. "Wow, if we don't hurry to the gym we'll be late to class. We have to run!"

She shot up to the balls of her feet and dashed away, the boys scrambled a bit before going right behind her feet, giving chase.

* * *

Sasuke was glowering darkly while Kiba returned the look. The boys were at each other's faces, features dark and tense. Kiba bit off, "You know what? You're acting pretty weird Sasuke. Why don't you just let Sai do as he wants? Plus, you don't have any interest in guys either, right?"

Sasuke bit down a growl, slamming his locker close. He nodded curtly and they both turned around, blinking in unison to stare at the empty space behind him.

Kiba groaned. "Oh man Sai must have dragged him off."

Sasuke was running out the door already by then, his nerves only riling up even more when he heard Kiba's snark comment behind his back. "…great. Now he really may become a queer."

* * *

Naru frowned as she looked around.

The hallways were dwindling down to a few students, doors slamming close to a few classrooms that marked the start of lectures, but she still didn't catch any site of a door that may scream 'GYM' at her.

"What's the matter?" Sai asked, his own backpack now slung on his right shoulder.

"Where is the gym?"

"Oh, the third floor."

"Then why are we on the second?"

Sai rose an eyebrow and eyed her strangely, "Well, you did have a need to go and sort of change, didn't you?"

"Change?" Naru squeaked, her steps screeching down to an abrupt halt.

"Yes, change. There is a special changing room for the soccer team in our school. Sasuke has clear access to it, seeing his does play for the school's regular lineup."

"You mean, as in, a boy's changing room?" butterflies drop kicked her stomach.

"Well, that is what I would think so." Sai laughed. "Jeez…did you go home to change clothes back in middle school."

" _No!…But I sure as hell wasn't thinking of changing in a boy's changing room!_ "

"Uh, do we have really have to?" she asked weakly.

"What's the matter? Sasuke is getting you his uniform isn't he. You're not getting shy by any chance, are you?" he joked.

"Uh, no. Of course not." she replied feebly.

" _How am I going to get out of this one!_ "

"Here we are!" Sai cheered up and she looked up. "After you!" he opened the door with a flourish and all but shoved her in. She stumbled through the doors and Sai came in after her, closing the door with an ominous bang.

Her eyes darted around nervously, eyeing the benches and lockers with a gulp until her gaze stopped at a lonely looking stall in the corner. Relief spread in her chest, _"I can use that! Even if it is for boy's, I'll just quickly change and be out in a flash!"_ she cheered mentally.

"Come on, get undressed already." said Sai, his own patience running thin. "We'll get late for class if you wait any more."

It was a lie, they were already well past attending the lecture now. All Sai wanted to was to see what package this new kid was hiding underneath those baggy drapes of his. "Yeah…" she giggled nervously.

Slinging away her back and plopping it down on a bench, she made her way to the stall with small quick steps that reminded Sai of a bunny. "Where are you going?"

She smiled nervously, sheepishly rubbing her neck as if she were a deer that was caught in headlights. "I'll just use that."

Sai frowned, clearly not expecting this new development but kept his lips thinned. The cards were still in his hands, he smiled, "Of course."

Naru felt a feeling of foreboding but she shook it off and went into the stall, closing the door behind her back. She looked up, surprised to see a shower and only then did she realize the stall's purpose. Her hand idly roamed near the top half of the door, searching for something to click but to no avail.

The door was absolutely smooth, much to her horror, "Um, Sai?"

"Hmm?"

"There's no lock here."

Sai's smile widened ever so sightly. "I know."

"Not even a hook to hang my clothes."

"I am quite aware of that, yes."

"Oh."

Dread coiled in her heart like a snake, "You don't need to worry, there's nothing to hide here. We're all boys…well sort of."

"Yeah." she whispered meekly.

" _It's nothing, I'll just get undressed and ask for clothes over the door. It's not like they would ever stoop so low as to barge in here…"_ taking a deep breath, her shaky hands caught the helm of her sweater before she pulled it off and hung it over the door.

Before she knew it, her shirt and pants were off too and she was left clad in her white camisole and matching panties. Her heart skipped a beat hearing foreign footsteps from the other side, though hearing Sasuke's voice she smiled.

They were talking about something in whispers, she couldn't make out anything of it. A moment later the clothes hanging over her door disappeared to the other side of the door. She blinked, "Um, guys. Did you take my clothes?"

She heard some chuckles, "What clothes?"

Cold sweat broke down her entire body, "The clothes that were on the door."

"No."

She placed her hand on the door, chewing away at her lip. "Uh, Sasuke."

"Yeah."

"Give me a minute."

She blinked. "…Okay."

Suddenly weird squeaky noises started filtering through her ears.

"What the-"

"Hey, that's rude-"

"Damn it, that hurt you bastard!"

"We are your friends-"

They ended when she heard that all too familiar bang of the door. Her old clothes as well as ones she didn't quite recognize toppled over the edge of the door, she heard a soft grunt from the other side followed by the sound of someone's back hitting the wall. She blinked, "Sasuke, you there?"

"Yeah."

"What just happened?"

"I kicked them out."

"Oh."

Silence fell between the two, for a second Naru felt as if the door between them wasn't even there. She could see him standing by her stall's side, leaning with his back against the wall, arms crossed. "Why?" she asked softly.

He grunted tiredly, "They were going to barge in on you the moment they saw their chance. Fucking ingrates."

A little smile quirked her lips, she slid the large shirt off the edge. It was really big, she liked them that way, though that was a moot point. Hesitantly, she pulled it close to her face and sniffed. It smelt really nice, almost like sandalwood, so she sniffed it again.

"You owe me two favors now." his comment broke her out of her trance.

She slid her arms in it's sleeves, pulling the jersey over her head "Yeah. I'll pay you back soon, I promise."

"You better do if you know what's good for you."

"Jerk."

Sasuke smirked, "Airhead."

Naru bristled, even from behind the door Sasuke could feel her glare burning holes in his back. He idly heard the shuffling of clothes from the stall before it went silent.

"Sasuke?"

He glanced sideways, a slender eyebrow rose when he saw her step out. His full sleeved jersey had almost completely covered her hands save for her fingertips. And coupled with his over sized pants folded upwards near his feet, he had to admit, the blonde boy looked adorable.

" _What the hell is wrong with me? Boys are not cute. Handsome maybe, but definitely not cute. Lord, I've got to stop hanging around those weirdos, they are messing with my sexuality now."_

"Thanks."

"Don't sweat it. I'll be taking my payment soon enough."

"Still."

"...Let's go already."

She fell in step by his side, her clothes tucked in her arms while she slung her trusted bag by her waist as usual. Even then, she couldn't help from stealing shy glances at him every now and then.

This school wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

The rest of the day had passed her by pretty quickly, she idly waved her legs back and forth courtesy of her short legs that didn't even reach the ground. Nestling her cheek in her palm, she sighed and gazed outside the window.

Many students were now vacating the fields, most of them being soccer students. Walking around in between her lectures, she had come across the fact that their soccer team was extremely strong.

But more importantly, that Sasuke was an initial part of it. Going so far as securing himself a place in the starting line up on all the major tournaments in his fresh year. This made her mind reel back to the boy sitting by her side.

He looked bored, she pouted.

Here she was wondering why he wasn't out practicing when other members of his team were, even Kiba had gone out and he was a bench warmer, for crying out loud!

"Sasuke…?" she nudged her elbow in his chest, jerking him awake.

"Hmm?" he fisted his eyes off some sleep and yawned shamelessly, with absolutely no care for the teacher glaring holes in his head. "Why aren't you practicing?"

He blinked, straightening up. This was a first, no one had ever had the gall to ask him that. This new kid sure was gutsy, he had to give him that. "Don't need it."

His simple answer made her eyebrows knit together, she was a bit peeved but in the end said nothing. Going back to waving her legs back and forth, she focused on her math lecture intently, completely clueless of the blanked out face of her seating partner staring out the window glumly.

"You know Sasuke…" she whispered, being extra mindful unlike a certain someone to not make her teacher aware of what it was she said. "…foundations are pretty important in math, you should pay attention to the lecture."

He glanced at her sharply, completely aware that she knew how useless this particular class was and what exactly it was she was referring to. Mood ruined, he looked the other way with an utterly jumbled mind. " _Foundations…?"_ he scoffed inwardly.

" _What foundations?"_

* * *

"Coach!" Kiba wheezed out. "Practice is about to finish right about now. I mean seriously, always lazing around and fishing in a swimming pool or reading that stupid book of yours in front of minor students. Do you even want to coach us?"

The teacher, a man with spiked up silver hair smiled in a way that made his eyes look like the letter 'U', "That big one was pretty good too." he coolly replied.

"What big one? You were fishing in a pool damn it, there are no fish in there!"

Kakashi brushed past him, paying no heed to the boy other than ruffling his hair. Kiba slapped his hand away and watched him walk away with a fierce scowl.

Kakashi's eyes drifted off to the side, he stopped for a moment to see the strange phenomenon in front of his eyes. Blinking, he had to wonder if he hadn't been in the sun for too long.

Sasuke was on his knees, sweat dripping down his knees as he kicked the ball with such fierce energy it almost shook Kakashi to the core. He had never seen that expression in the boy's eyes, to be frank, he had always been sure the boy never even took the sport seriously.

Most kids in these rich schools didn't though, it was always a shame to watch such latent potential being wasted away to no avail. "And which big fish are you always rambling about anyways? Always telling me that big one got away, what's that even supposed to mean." he looked ready to pull his hair out. "Come and train us already, for lord's sake the winter tournament is in a month!"

Kakashi stood quietly, eyeing the boy out in the fields at such a late hour with a peculiar glint in his eyes. His eyes though, narrowed when said boy started picking up stones all around the field in a bucket instead of cooling his body off.

Realization dawned over him, his eyes widened. He smiled, "Indeed. You're right Kiba."

Kiba grinned, finally his hopes were being heard. "That one may become very big someday." and just like that, with a laugh Kiba's hopes were dashed.

Looking ready to breathe fire from his nostrils, Kiba ran after the man with no intent of letting up this time, "Did you catch a cold or something? Wait, Coach!"

* * *

Sasuke looked up, sky darkening, he wiped off the sweat from his face. His eyes went to the ball by his side, a small smile graced his lips.

He slid it up his toe, bobbing it up and down repetitively. " _Sasuke, lifting is not about how many times you can do it. It's all about the balance, just concentrate more on keeping your balance."_

"Yes!" he shifted it onto the other toe, his balance tipping off as the ball rolled away lifelessly. He stood there, all alone, smiling at his failure. "Basics really are important, aren't they brother?"

He got back to collecting the stones, his mind reeling back a decade.

* * *

Brother, starting today, are you really going to start teaching me how to play soccer?" a boy, no more than five with spiked up raven hair asked in ragged breaths.

"Yeah, of course." the boy running ahead of him, on a trail of stairs that seemed to have no end in sight replied, not even short of breath yet. His hair, the same shade as Sasuke's were tied in a pony tail.

"What are we beginning with then? I already know how to dribble and shoot!"

Coming onto the top of the stairs, the entrance of their personal shrine welcoming them in both boys caught their breaths for a second. "So, Sasuke…" Itachi breathed out, Sasuke snapped to attention, looking ready for a war. "...we are starting with…"

Itachi rolled up his sleeves, ignoring his little brother's form hopping all around him. "Collecting stones from the ground!"

"What?"

"Come on, get to it."

Nodding, Sasuke followed his brother and began picking off stones from the ground. Though, after an hour, "How long are we going to do this for? Isn't soccer supposed to be kicking the ball?"

"Listen to me Sasuke." Itachi mumbled, throwing yet another pebble in his bag. "These are the foundations of soccer."

"Foundations?"

"They're the most important things."

"Aw."

* * *

Standing in the middle of the immaculately clean field, Sasuke smirked.

"Damn kid. Throwing all that back at me, he owes me three now."

The moonlight over his head stretched his shadow long, it's illuminating radiance accentuating the soft smile on his face as much as he tried to hide it.

* * *

 _ **There's the next. As I said the last time, do review!**_


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